Ath Bilbao vs Valencia prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-10-28 17:30.
Although they lost 1-0 at Barcelona last weekend, Athletic Bilbao have started this La Liga (LL) campaign strongly, amassing 17 points so far (W5, D2, L3) and finding themselves sixth ahead of matchday 11. Impressive results on home soil have been the key to that good form as they remain unbeaten at San Mamés across their last four LL outings (W3, D1) after defeat to Real Madrid on the opening weekend of the season.
That’s the club’s longest such streak without defeat since manager Ernesto Valverde returned to Bilbao in late June 2022, and they’ll be looking to extend it further here against Valencia. There’s good reason for them to think that’s achievable on Sunday too, as the Lions have now gone seven LL H2H games unbeaten (W3, D4), with each of the last two encounters at home also seeing them keep clean sheets.
Visiting Valencia make the trip north in high spirits off the back of a routine 2-0 home triumph over Cádiz, especially as that latest three-point haul has brought them within close range of the European qualification spots. That victory also ended a streak of four LL matches without both a win (D2, L2) and a clean sheet, no doubt further boosting their confidence ahead of this contest.
That said, Valencia have found the going very tough when visiting the new San Mamés, taking just one victory from their 12 visits across all competitions since it opened in September 2013 (W1, D7, L4). Coupled with that is their extremely poor form on the road throughout 2023, with their tally of 14 winless outings in 17 LL games (W3, D3, L11) marking them out as one of the competition’s worst sides away from home!
Players to watch: Iñaki Williams has done well for Bilbao so far this season, netting four LL goals, but he’s failed to score in all 19 prior H2Hs – his most matches against any club without doing so. In similar form, Valencia’s Hugo Duro also has four goals in LL this campaign, with his last three coming inside 35 minutes.
Hot stat: Only three of Bilbao’s last 12 home LL games have seen both teams score.